Step By Step Process Of Cleaning A Down Comforter
A down comforter is considered one of the warm as well as cheerful addition to your bed. In order to keep your down comforter soft and clean, you need to wash it at regular intervals, which in turn will make your comforter look brand-new. Follow the below mentioned step by step process carefully to clean your down comforter:
Step 1: Prepping And Caring For The Comforter
- Keep An Eye On Your Comforter: The fabric may get shabby with heavy or prolonged use. Stains, rips, mold, as well as other unacceptable conditions may occur. Therefore, you need to opt for loose feathers, due to the reason that down comforters are generally filled with the fluffy undercoating of geese, ducks, etc. and a rush of flying feathers is a revealing sign that the fabric has torn. Repair tears with the help of a needle and a thread that matches the comforter. Spot-clean any stains immediately as you notice them.
- Clean Your Comforter Every Few Years: After every year or two you need to clean a down comforter and under normal situations, there is no need to get it cleaned from a dry-cleaner. However, there is an exception: if in case the fabric becomes extremely dirty, then you can think of getting it cleaned from a dry cleaner in order to be satisfied with the cleaning process.
- Remove Your Down Comforter From The Bed: No matter if you are washing the comforter or just moving for lint, it is a good idea not to clean the comforter at the time when it is still on top of your sheets as well as mattress. Take it to a clean, dry place having water-resistant floors, for instance, a laundry room, a bathroom, or a patio.
- Use A Duvet Cover: This over-blanket or "comforter shell" wraps up your comforter and keeps it clean. You can purchase duvets to adjust various comforter sizes. Duvets generally zip shut around the comforter for the safety purpose. When you find out dirt or stains, you can easily take off the duvet cover and clean it without bothering about the comforter.
Step 2: Washing
- Use A Large, Front-loading Washing Machine: Down comforters have a tendency to be bulky, which in turn means that a small machine will not perform the cleaning process. If in case you have a top-loading machine at home, it in all likelihood will have an "agitator" in the middle of the washing chamber, which can tear or otherwise stress the fabric of the comforter. If a large, front-loading machine is not available at home, opt for taking the comforter to a local Laundromat, as they have heavy-duty front-loading machines available.
- Wash Smoothly: As soon as you load your comforter into the machine, add a mild laundry detergent. Use warm water as well as a delicate cycle, due to the reason that hot or cold water can be very harmful to the down comforter. Try to immerse the comforter completely into the water.
- Use The Rinse Cycle Twice: All the detergent needs to be washed out before you take out the comforter from the wash. Prior to the comforter hitting the spin cycle, you need to pull it out and take out some of the water by hand. It will make the waterlogged fabric portable and more likely to spin well.
Step 3: Drying
- Unload The Comforter: As soon as you finish the wash cycle, take out your down comforter from the washing machine. Your comforter should look uniform, smoother, as well as less bulky than usual. If in case your comforter is white, it may look soiled when you take it out from the wash. But you don't need to worry as it is temporary. The stain stems from the wet down lint, and the clean white color should return as the comforter dries.
- Consider Air-drying The Comforter: This process will take longer compared to an electrical drying machine, however it is unlikely to shrink or damage the fabric. Down comforter is usually slow to dry, so you need to be patient. Place the comforter out in a clean, sunny area, and allow it to dry.
- Use A Dryer On A Low Heat Setting: If in case you use a drying machine, you need to prevent setting the cycle to a high heat. White comforters can dry at a higher heat without any harm as compared to colorful comforters however there is still the risk of shrinking.
- Check And Fluff Periodically: Even if you opt to air-dry or to machine dry, you simply need to keep an eye on your down comforter in order to make sure the process is going smoothly. Take note of that the fabric is drying evenly through, and not just in patches. Lint and distribute the down by pressing and shaking the comforter. Grasp the comforter regularly and feel for clumps of down. Clumps means that it is still damp and will need more time in the dryer.
- Wait Until Dry: As soon as the comforter is completely dry, lint it out and position it back on your bed. The whole drying process nearly takes 4 to 12 hours, which is totally dependent on the method and heat setting that you use. Once the comforter fully dries, you can again use it.